Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Juno

If Atonement is best seen in solitary confinement, have your friends around when you watch this one. Do not watch it in an iPod or Creative at 1:00 am while lying on your bed and your roommates are asleep. Trying not to laugh out loud can give you gas. Trust me.

The plot enough is simple. But I guess it is this simplicity that brings out the best in this film - the dialogue, the whip ass smart quips, the set, the music, and the actors.

Ellen Page is superb! Before this film, I've only known her as Kitty Pryde with the cool power of walking through walls (if I have this ability, I'll be the ultimate voyeur). She's just amazing as Juno MacGuff.

She is able to give justice to the character of an immature yet smart girl dealing with mature problems and in the process, "grow up" without losing that vibrancy, strength and spirit found generally in the young.

Jennifer Garner as the adoptive mother Vanessa Loring is a bit stiff. It's great because she's required to be this character who is reserved and holds back herself due to fear that her dream of becoming a mother will never come true. At the end though, in the scene where she finally holds her baby, she lets go, she glows and it is a sight to behold.

There is nothing heavy in Juno. It is not thought-provoking. It will not make you weep. It will not keep you staring at the screen after the credits.

It will only leave you with the feeling that you've just watched a good film. And sometimes, this is quite enough.